Average Wedding Cost for Event Rentals

$1,737 is the average wedding cost for Venue, Catering & Rentals Event Rentals in United States

Roughly 64% - 74%
of couples purchase this

Note: Average Cost is based on the spending of couples recently married not wedding vendor prices.
This includes all types of weddings, event locations, purchases of both new and pre-owned items and purchases of services from professionals,
someone that simply provides the service, or a hired family member or friend.
Spending and prices can vary widely.

The best way to figure out how much you might spend for your wedding is to use the wedding cost estimator

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Utensils, including formal place setting items like shrimp forks and escargot clips

Serving utensils

Cake serving utensils

Chef knives

Service Equipment

Ice Chest/Bucket/Scoops

Pitchers

Punch bowl/ladle

Waiter trays and stands

Prep tables

Food warming trays

Tenting

Tents

Caterer tents

Tent poles and structures

Marquee/Covered Walkway

Side Walls

Ceiling liner

Wall liner

French doors

Clear-top tenting

Securing anchors

Tent lighting

Flooring within tent

Comfort items

Heating units

Cooling fans

Porta-Potty or restroom upscale camper

Generator(s)

Additional Cost Items to Look Out For

The most often-forgotten rental items:

Stages

Couches

End tables and coffee tables for lounge-type seating areas

Highboy tables and chairs for lounge-type seating areas

Chandeliers

Light strings

Lanterns

Tiki torches

Children's-size table and chairs

Table overlay linens

Specialty dinnerware, such as individual soy sauce dipper plates for sushi or round olive oil plates for dipping at tables

Tongs

Side tables set up for guests' disposal of cocktail party plates and glasses

Trash receptacle and trash bags

Recycling containers and trash bags

Passing trays

Plate covers

Chair cushions

Lawn games for the cocktail party

Gift envelope birdcage

Gift envelope card box

Candelabras

Sweetheart table linens, if different from guest table linens

Media display equipment and screens

Large d'cor items like French doors, Victorian mirrors, other furniture

Food carts

Rush orders, when you've forgotten something important, like all the plates for the dessert hour

Late returns (such as your volunteer returning rented items after the deadline of noon, incurring another day's rental)

Replacement fees for any broken items

High demand time pricing, like wedding and graduation season when rentals are in demand, as well as holiday weekends

Rentals available from your floral designer and wedding coordinator; extra design pieces they have left over from other weddings or larger installations they rent out, like Victorian furniture

Getting rental items from multiple sites and sources

Delivery fees

Repair or replacement fees

Thank you gifts and card for items loved ones let you borrow, not rent or buy, for your wedding celebration

Why Does It Cost This Much?

That is a long shopping list. And the items on it are used in so many different ways in guests' hands-on experience. While wine glasses may cost just a few dollars apiece to rent, it's the volume of your order, those many different kinds of specialty barware pieces, tons of different elements of a formal place setting (for each of your guests!) and the items needed to make your wedding functional as well as beautiful that turn this category into a surprisingly high number.

This is not a time for the basic white plates from the budget rentals list, nor skipping all of those different kinds of wine glasses in favor of a white wine glass 'that will do.' No, guests know their glassware and their flatware, and they're equal connoisseurs of table linens, having seen so many on bridal social media, Instagram and Pinterest. They can look at a photo of an outdoor ceremony, and raise an eyebrow at what are obviously polyester chair sashes from some no-name brand. This is a case in which all the littlest details make big impressions on their own (a ladle with an ornate scrolled handle) and in tandem with other wedding details (the cluster of gorgeous stemware at each place setting, reflecting the candlelight and beckoning your first glass of champagne or wine.) So this sector does cost a lot, from pure numbers and variety, plus the quality of top-tier brands.

Also of extreme importance: those comfort items ' the heating units, cooling units, and especially generators that will help keep you and your guests comfortable on hot, cold, rainy, snowy or humid days, and help prevent disaster if a power source fails. No lights, no music, no food = your party's pretty much over.

As much as it costs to rent this large supply of items for your wedding day, add in what you need for events you'll host at home, like an engagement party, bridal shower, morning-of breakfast, morning-after breakfast and more. While your rentals shopping list won't likely be as huge as the one for your wedding, for each party you'll have a rentals shopping list to fulfill. Multiplying all the costs of this category turn up the dial on just how much you'll spend here.